Putin Admits That Russian Air Defense Shot Down Azerbaijan Airlines Plane

Putin acknowledged that Russian air defense missiles damaged the Azerbaijan Airlines plane and did not rule out compensation.

During a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the Embraer 190 passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), which crashed in December 2024, was damaged by Russian air defense.

The airliner was flying from Baku to Grozny but was damaged in Russian airspace. It was trying to divert to Aktau, Kazakhstan, but crashed during landing.

There were 67 people on board – five crew members and 62 passengers. 38 people died, 29 survived.

The next day after the crash, Reuters and Euronews reported that the plane was hit by Russian air defense missiles, and the crew was allegedly not allowed to land at any Russian airport, ordered to fly to Kazakhstan.

For the first time, Putin voiced the official version of the Russian side. According to him, the Russian air defense system “guided” three Ukrainian drones, after which it fired two missiles that “exploded a few meters from the plane.”

He added that the jetliner was damaged, “most likely by debris, not by combat elements.”

Also, according to Putin, the crew was offered to land in Makhachkala, but it was decided to go to Kazakhstan.

In addition, the Russian president said that the crash could have been caused by technical malfunctions in the air defense system, which led to the erroneous launch of missiles.

“It is our duty to give an objective assessment of everything that happened and name the real cause. Of course, everything that is required in such tragic cases will be done by the Russian side, including compensation,” Putin said.

Three days after the crash, on December 28, the Kremlin reported that Putin had apologized to Aliyev for the “tragic incident” in Russian airspace, but Moscow did not take responsibility.

The Azerbaijani president has repeatedly accused Russia of shooting down the plane and demanded an admission of guilt and compensation.

Aliyev also rejected Moscow’s proposal to hand over the black boxes to the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee, insisting that they be sent to Brazil, where the Embraer 190 was manufactured.

The incident caused a deterioration in relations between Baku and Moscow. Azerbaijan introduced stricter migration rules for Russians, closed the Russian House cultural center in Baku, and in May, Ilham Aliyev did not attend the Victory Parade in Moscow.

Azerbaijan Airlines, in turn, canceled flights to a number of Russian cities.

Azerbaijani journalists recently claimed to have identified new Russian military personnel involved in the downing of a civilian plane near Grozny last December.